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Topic: Roommate Hell..... (Read 25565 times)

Yeah, wouldn't have lasted the month with her. I minimize bleach use, use a sponge and fry it in the microwave every two days if I don't chuck it in the dishwasher when I'm running a sanitize cycle on glassware, and almost never make the bed. She could either adjust to how another person did things as long as they got done well or she could go pound sand.

I wouldn't have lasted a week! I use disposable handi-wipes, and chuck them and get a new one at random intervals. I don't use bleach at all to clean since I can't stand the smell of it. I also don't make my bed. well, very rarely, if at all.

I have been known to leave some smelly garbage in the fridge, in a bag, if my can isn't full and I know i won't be taking the trash out anytime soon, but freezing, and esp. the specific way to tie and knot the bag? OH NO.

Regarding the egg shells? doesn' having a liner in the garbage can negate the need for them to have their OWN bag?

My senior year in college, I had the worst roommate for me. We were each 22, but she thought I was about 25, and I thought she was barely 18. I was running around, doing what I could to get into grad school, and she wanted to spend her time whining that she didn't want to go to college.

She even had a talk with me, and to prove that she was right, she mentioned that another student on the floor didn't like me either. "Yeah? She's also extremely racist, and my boyfriend is of a different race. I'm going to put any weight to her opinion?"

She complained the one time that I held a party, because she didn't want strangers in our room, stealing her stuff. "Really? Because the people I have asked I know very well, and you keep telling me about the people that you have just met during your midnight walks and you invited them. Who was the guy last night? Oh, that's right, you didn't even know his name but you asked him to the party." She also announced (with great martyrdom) that she would help me clean the room after my party, so I never cleaned so fast and so hard in my life before she was back from breakfast. That upset her also.

Logged

I have enough lithium in my medicine cabinet to power three cars across a sizeable desert. Which makes me officially...Three Cars Crazy

I had a roommate in college who would love to denigrate my stuff, but then would borrow it anyway without telling me. The last straw came when she went in and took my new formal dress that I was saving for a dance, and tried to wear it to the same dance. At the time she was a good five inches shorter and 20 pounds heavier than me, so there was no way it was going to fit her even if I did allow her to borrow it. I threw a fit when I saw her trying to squeeze herself into the dress an hour before the dance, and called the RA. Fortunately I got moved to a different room soon thereafter. She tried telling everyone how mean I was, but since she had also used a lot of other people, no one believed her.

When I lived in halls, one of the girls on our floor decided that it would be reasonable to dry raw duck's stomachs in the shared kitchen. She rinsed them in a couple of colanders, spread them out and left the colanders in the heated kitchen with bloody water pooling underneath. The smell after a couple of days was quite astonishing. A visiting friend commented that all that was lacking was flies crawling all over them. In the end we complained to the administrator who came, took a look and a sniff, went EEEWWW and told her to get rid of it. Neighbour was quite outraged. Apparently since this was food it was not possible for it to stink.

I've talked about my demon housemate, "Clare" on here before, but here are some of the highlights:

- If she was going to bed, the house had to be silent. Any noise at all, including (but not limited to) watching television, listening to music, using the kitchen or bathroom, talking with eachother, using the phone, would result in her having a huge fit or spending the following day slamming doors and loudly calling her boyfriend and telling him how horrible we all were.

- She became obsessed with knowing where everyone was, insisting on a sort of wall-chart where we had to put down all classes, events and other plans in advance. If we left the house for any reason, we had to write on the whiteboard where we were going and what time we might be back. If we complained, refused, or just didn't do it, she burst into tears and claimed she just wanted to make sure we were all safe.

- This didn't stop her, however, leaving the house for days on end to go home or visit her boyfriend, without telling any of us.

- She was a compulsive liar, particularly on the subject of her family. She frequently claimed that her mother/grandmother/grandfather/sibling (it changed often) was very sick and close to death. She also claimed, at various points, to have a dead twin sister, have a blind/paralysed/comatose father, and to be the illegitimate daughter of a minor royal. At various other points, she refused to have ever said any of that, and once accused our fellow housemate of gaslighting her on the subject.

- She dropped out of university in April, shortly before the end of the Spring term, and went home. She didn't take any of her belongings, bar a small suitcase of clothes and a couple of knick-nacks. She refused to pay rent, claiming that if she wasn't at university anymore, she didn't have to. (This was an off-campus house with a landlord, not university housing). Luckily our contract stated we were individually responsible for our own rent, so I and the other three housemates weren't penalised for this.

- She refused to come and collect her belongings, but threatened to sue us all if we touched them. (We boxed them up and left them in her room, so they could be easily picked up.)

- The day before we were due to move out (end of June), she turned up, with her (perfectly healthy) parents, and threw a total fit. She was furious that we had been in "her" room, that we had touched her stuff, and that we hadn't been concerned about her. Genuinely, she was incandescent with rage that we hadn't been calling her every day to see if she was okay, hadn't flooded her social media with pleas for her to come back, hadn't travelled 200 miles (during exams!!) to visit her. Her parents agreed, saying that we were horrible people and toxic, and it was our fault that Clare had dropped out of uni.

(Nope, I'm pretty sure the fact that she slept through half her lectures, had to get extensions on most of her essays because of "mental health issues", and hadn't got a passing grade in anything for her entire second year was why she dropped out.)

Luckily they then stormed out, promising that they were going to sue us all for 'emotional distress', and we never saw or heard from them again.

(Nope, I'm pretty sure the fact that she slept through half her lectures, had to get extensions on most of her essays because of "mental health issues", and hadn't got a passing grade in anything for her entire second year was why she dropped out.)

I dunno, "mental health issues" seems to be an entirely accurate assessment of the problem.

Logged

"A true gentleman is one who is never unintentionally rude." - Oscar Wilde

Out of my college roommates, I had two good ones and three doozies. The two good ones became good friends of mine but I haven't seen or spoken to the other three since we parted ways (when one of us moved out).

First semester freshman year - roomie was a "party girl." Most of the time, her side of the room looked like her closet had exploded. Stuff all over her bed that got shoved to the floor when she slept and then picked up and dumped back on her bed when she got up in the mornings. It was common for her to sleep through her alarm . . . or get up and turn mine off before I got up. And we both had 8 o'clock classes. Her mom came to visit one weekend, and that was the only time all semester that roomie cleaned and picked up her side of the room. I left a damp towel draped over the back of my desk chair after showering that morning and then went out for a few hours. Came back to find the same damp towel folded and on my bed (still damp!) and roomie's mom proceeded to lecture me on nasty habits. I put the towel back where I'd had it and then went across the hall to the bathroom. Not gone five minutes. Came back to the towel again folded and on my bed. I snapped then and told roomie's mom in no uncertain terms not to touch my stuff again, that she didn't live there and what I did really wasn't her business.

During the holiday season that year, roomie decided to get a tree and decorate it. No big deal. But she wanted to have the tree lit and lights flashing at all hours of the night, whether she was in the room or not. One night in particular, I had a bad headache and had gone to bed early. A study light, if roomie had wanted to read/study in our room, wouldn't have bothered me but a treeful of green and blue lights all flashing simultaneously made it impossible for me to relax, much less go to sleep and stay asleep. Roomie was down the hall visiting with someone, and she'd pop into our room periodically just to turn the tree lights on and then leave. When it became apparent that she wasn't returning soon, I'd turn them off and lie back down. I'd no sooner start to doze off than she'd return and turn the tree lights back on and leave again. I finally did say something to her about it, and she stopped.

Fall semester junior year - my roomie was a freshman. Nice enough girl, for the most part, but absolutely spoiled rotten and no boundaries whatsoever. When she realized that our dorm was rather cool year round and you'd need a blanket even in warm weather, she saw that I'd brought two blankets (both for my own use) and told her mother not to bother buying her a blanket, as I had two. Never had she asked if she could use one and never had I offered. I set that straight quickly and told her and her mom that I used both blankets and that she needed to get her own and not depend on mine. We had a cold spell in mid-September and roomie only had sandals to wear. I offered to let her borrow a pair of socks one morning and that seemed to make her think that my stuff was just there for the taking. I went to get a pair of socks for myself the next day and found them already worn and dirty and back in my drawer. I had to tell her to go buy her own socks and not get into my drawers. She'd loan out food and utensils that I'd bought. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I noticed my yearbook missing and found out that she'd loaned it out to someone. Didn't know who. Just some girl down the hall. I made her go get it for me. Then, probably the next day, I was sitting at my desk studying and some girl I didn't know (but roomie did) just waltzed into our room, walked over to my desk, reached over my head and took down my yearbook. We had to have a little CTJ meeting over that one.

Summer school, doing graduate work - I didn't realize it at the time but I really should have used commuter housing that summer ($13 a night, Monday through Wednesday nights - no classes on Friday) and gotten a private room but I thought that it would be cheaper for me to live on campus for those few weeks instead of trying to commute. When I signed up for housing, I asked for a non-smoker. I got a smoker. To her credit, she didn't smoke in our room, but the smell stayed on her, so our room smelled. She wanted to sleep with all the lights on, snored like an old man and criticized everything I did. I wound up moving out before the end of my classes just to get some peace. I did see her again in passing the next summer, but I gave her the "cut direct" and looked right through her.

(Nope, I'm pretty sure the fact that she slept through half her lectures, had to get extensions on most of her essays because of "mental health issues", and hadn't got a passing grade in anything for her entire second year was why she dropped out.)

I dunno, "mental health issues" seems to be an entirely accurate assessment of the problem.

Oh, I'm not disputing she had mental health issues. I'm just saying they weren't our fault.

I'm starting to feel very fortunate, reading these. As a student, my group got split into two houses (too many of us to go into one, with the best will in the world) and both houses ended up with one crap roommate, but not quite as bad as these stories - well, mine wasn't, anyway.

"Tracey" began OK, but gradually became a pain in the rump. She would take over the entire kitchen when she cooked dinner - I still don't know how one person can use the grill, oven and all four hobs for a one-person meal - and then act hard done by when asked to please free up a hob so one of us could cook. She would set up cleaning rotas - in itself a good idea - which always put myself and my closest friend as being behind, as in "Tracey and X clean kitchen by Saturday, Shadow and Y clean bathroom by Thursday" (this being Thursday). She would take offence at minor things and start screaming arguments with people. It was all very irritating.

However, in the other house, our friend "Jane" was far worse. She never, ever paid her bills, so the other three were constantly chasing her for rent and utilities. She brought random men home for the night. She brought drugs into the house. She would leave the house empty without locking doors or setting the alarm. She would borrow other people's non-stick pans and then scrub them out with metal scrubs, thereby ruining them.

When it came time to renew, her housemates all went their separate ways. She asked to come in with us. We said HELL NO.

One thing "Jane" told me was that during the summer, she didn't throw food scraps/waste into the kitchen garbage, but put them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then threw that bag out on trash day. Which, okay, a little fussy for my liking, but I could live with it.

Is it just me or... is the idea of keeping rubbish in the fridge/freezer a bit... ? I mean, I know it's in a bag, but it's still rotting rubbish right next to your food. Perhaps not in the freezer; maybe the freezing arrests things a bit - but in the fridge as mentioned in later posts?

So I'm not sure how that was any better than leaving it in the bin, in terms of being sanitary; sounds like the roommate had some weird ideas.

One thing "Jane" told me was that during the summer, she didn't throw food scraps/waste into the kitchen garbage, but put them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then threw that bag out on trash day. Which, okay, a little fussy for my liking, but I could live with it.

Is it just me or... is the idea of keeping rubbish in the fridge/freezer a bit... ? I mean, I know it's in a bag, but it's still rotting rubbish right next to your food. Perhaps not in the freezer; maybe the freezing arrests things a bit - but in the fridge as mentioned in later posts?

So I'm not sure how that was any better than leaving it in the bin, in terms of being sanitary; sounds like the roommate had some weird ideas.

This probably depends on were you live, but here a lot of people I know do this, usually keeping the bag in the freezer. It's to keep the fruit flies down. They can seriously overrun even the most spotlessly clean house in a day or two if you throw your produce scraps directly in to the garbage...and they are a Female Dog to try and get rid of.

Logged

Meditate. Live purely. Quiet the mind. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. ---Gautama Buddah

One thing "Jane" told me was that during the summer, she didn't throw food scraps/waste into the kitchen garbage, but put them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then threw that bag out on trash day. Which, okay, a little fussy for my liking, but I could live with it.

Is it just me or... is the idea of keeping rubbish in the fridge/freezer a bit... ? I mean, I know it's in a bag, but it's still rotting rubbish right next to your food. Perhaps not in the freezer; maybe the freezing arrests things a bit - but in the fridge as mentioned in later posts?

So I'm not sure how that was any better than leaving it in the bin, in terms of being sanitary; sounds like the roommate had some weird ideas.

This probably depends on were you live, but here a lot of people I know do this, usually keeping the bag in the freezer. It's to keep the fruit flies down. They can seriously overrun even the most spotlessly clean house in a day or two if you throw your produce scraps directly in to the garbage...and they are a Female Dog to try and get rid of.

Yeah, I can see the logic in it, but keeping rubbish next to food that you're going to eat just icks me out a bit.

We (mostly) have wheelie bins here, so you can put your rubbish in the bins outside, it doesn't have to stay in the house.

One thing "Jane" told me was that during the summer, she didn't throw food scraps/waste into the kitchen garbage, but put them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then threw that bag out on trash day. Which, okay, a little fussy for my liking, but I could live with it.

Is it just me or... is the idea of keeping rubbish in the fridge/freezer a bit... ? I mean, I know it's in a bag, but it's still rotting rubbish right next to your food. Perhaps not in the freezer; maybe the freezing arrests things a bit - but in the fridge as mentioned in later posts?

So I'm not sure how that was any better than leaving it in the bin, in terms of being sanitary; sounds like the roommate had some weird ideas.

This probably depends on were you live, but here a lot of people I know do this, usually keeping the bag in the freezer. It's to keep the fruit flies down. They can seriously overrun even the most spotlessly clean house in a day or two if you throw your produce scraps directly in to the garbage...and they are a Female Dog to try and get rid of.

Yeah, I can see the logic in it, but keeping rubbish next to food that you're going to eat just icks me out a bit.

We (mostly) have wheelie bins here, so you can put your rubbish in the bins outside, it doesn't have to stay in the house.

We have wheelie bins outside here too. Tossing it directly outside, even in a a very tightly sealed garbage bag, just gives you a cloud of fruit flies when you go to open it later. Then you have a ton of them in your yard and they eventually make their way into the house. Revolting annoying little critters. It is very warm and humid here most of the year and it's just part of life. It's just much easier to freeze scraps and chuck them in the outside bin on garbage day than to be overrun by fruit flies.

Logged

Meditate. Live purely. Quiet the mind. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. ---Gautama Buddah

This isn't about my roomie, who was a sweet girl, but about her boyfriend. Her Evil Boyfriend. But it directly related to her and our room sharing.

I was a junior, she was a sophomore. In freshman year, she had met and started seeing Evil Boyfriend. EB was very controlling - wanted her to only do stuff with him, cut out her friends, monopolized her time, interfered with her studies so her grades dropped, etc. He did a really bad number on her psychologically, and for her sanity, her parents made her break it off with him just before the school year ended. During the summer, they would not permit her to contact him and rebuffed any contact he attempted. She was actually very grateful to them, because it let her see just how bad and Evil he was. She came back and did not intend to get back together with him.

But EB had other plans. Within the first week, he was showing up at our room at all hours to beg her to take him back. Like as early as 6am, which means that it impacted me. I answered the door one day and read him the riot act over it, but it didn't stop him. We both reported him to the RAs but even they couldn't get him to leave her alone. The early morning visits continued, as EB was trying to wear her down by talking to her when she wasn't quite awake yet and very vulnerable. RA and I were trying every avenue we could to get him stopped but nothing was working. The school was turning a blind eye, so to speak, on the whole thing. We were about to get the police involved, if we could (local cops might have tried to turn it back to contacting campus police, who probably wouldn't have done anything.)

Until the day about 5 or 6 weeks into the school year that I had a premonition that morning during classes that she might just need to quit school. Then when I returned to the room that afternoon, she was gone. Her parents had finally had enough and since the school wouldn't do anything, they did. They came and yanked her out of there. I came home to her half of the room empty. EB was in for a shock the next morning

That is so sad that she had to interrupt her life and education to get away from a stalker.

That was my thought too, but I hope she was transfer to another school without too much of a disruption.

And after reading the Jenny Trout recaps of 50SOG, I couldn't help but think that EB sounded quite a bit like Christian Grey and shake my head that some women think that's romantic. *shudder*

I can't really think of any truly awful roommate stories. The second half of my second year in the dorms I got a girl who was truly a slob. I'm no neatnik myself, to be honest with you, but this girl...this girl was a true slob. We had bunked our beds to give us more room and I was always having to step over all her stuff. She'd use my cd's (which I'd okay'd, naively) but wouldn't put them back in their cases so they'd get scratched.

Logged

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

One thing "Jane" told me was that during the summer, she didn't throw food scraps/waste into the kitchen garbage, but put them in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then threw that bag out on trash day. Which, okay, a little fussy for my liking, but I could live with it.

Is it just me or... is the idea of keeping rubbish in the fridge/freezer a bit... ? I mean, I know it's in a bag, but it's still rotting rubbish right next to your food. Perhaps not in the freezer; maybe the freezing arrests things a bit - but in the fridge as mentioned in later posts?

So I'm not sure how that was any better than leaving it in the bin, in terms of being sanitary; sounds like the roommate had some weird ideas.

This probably depends on were you live, but here a lot of people I know do this, usually keeping the bag in the freezer. It's to keep the fruit flies down. They can seriously overrun even the most spotlessly clean house in a day or two if you throw your produce scraps directly in to the garbage...and they are a Female Dog to try and get rid of.

Yeah, I can see the logic in it, but keeping rubbish next to food that you're going to eat just icks me out a bit.

We (mostly) have wheelie bins here, so you can put your rubbish in the bins outside, it doesn't have to stay in the house.

We have outdoor bins too, but the food bin only gets picked up twice a month. In summer the smell from it can be horrific! I have frozen chicken/meat off cuts to try and keep the stench down.